Civil Wars Win Battle for Top Album Sales

Though they fundamentally split up last year, Americana duo the Civil Wars has scored their first No. 1 album with their eponymous new release.

“The Civil Wars” (Sensibility Music/Columbia) claimed the top spot with first-week sales of 116,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan data for the week ending Aug. 11. The twosome’s previous chart peak came in early 2012, when their debut studio set “Barton Hollow” climbed to No. 10 following a Grammy Awards appearance.

In November, Civil Wars band mates Joy Williams and John Paul White announced what they termed a touring hiatus, citing “internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition.”

Trailing at No. 2 was the 47th installment of the reliable hits compilation “Now That’s What I Call Music,” which entered with a 82,000-unit tally. The current entry includes singles by Justin Timberlake, Mariah Carey, Imagine Dragons and Bruno Mars, among others.

Two other new titles bowed in the top 10. English metal unit Asking Alexandria’s “From Death to Destiny” (Sumerian) moved in at No. 6, shifting 38,000. It’s the group’s highest-charting release to date: 2011’s “Reckless and Relentless” topped out at No. 9.

Pop-savvy gospel artist Tye Tribbett’s fifth album “Greater Than” (Motown) captured the No. 9 slot with a 30,000-unit stanza. It is the first top 10 collection for the vocalist, who has established himself as a soloist following backup work with Faith Hill, Will Smith, Usher, and Sting.

The week’s top holdover was Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” (Interscope), which drifted to No. 3 with 65,000 sold (off 63%) after its No. 1 debut last week.

The top 10 was completed by Jay Z’s “Magna Carta Holy Grail” (No. 4, 48,000 sold, down 22%), the “Teen Beach Movie” soundtrack (No. 5, 38,000, off 19%), Imagine Dragon’s “Night Visions” (No. 7, 37,000, up 46% thanks to sale pricing at iTunes), Five Finger Death Punch’s “The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 1” (No. 8, 35,000, down 69%) and Florida Georgia Line’s “Here’s to the Good Times” (No. 10, 26,000, off 8%).